Activists: Obama to speak to all

The nonpartisan NAACP will hear from Republican John McCain on Wednesday.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Days after a microphone caught the Rev. Jesse Jackson complaining that Sen. Barack Obama hadn’t done enough to appeal to black voters, the Illinois Democrat plans today to make his case directly to the NAACP.

Obama, soon to be the first black major-party presidential nominee, plans to speak at the civil rights group’s national convention tonight. Some blacks’ frustration spilled into public last week when Jackson was caught on camera suggesting he was ready to castrate Obama after his speech about fatherhood and responsibility.

Jackson apologized for his comments, while saying there were other important issues such as unemployment, the housing crisis and many blacks in prison.

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, the city’s first directly elected black mayor, disputed suggestions that Obama isn’t speaking to black voters.

“I think he absolutely has,” Mallory said, adding that besides his messages about responsibility, Obama has talked about jobs, health care, education and other “areas where black people are disproportionately affected.”

Ronald Walters, a University of Maryland political scientist who was a top aide to Jackson’s presidential bids, said blacks understand that Obama is trying to be elected president in a majority-white nation. But he said there has been frustration for those who want Obama to lay out a specific agenda for the black community beyond speeches from the pulpit about responsibility.

“We don’t expect him to be a minister,” Walters said. “He’s running to be president. ... What is the nature of your public policy?”

Ronnie Robinson, here for the convention from North Carolina, said he hears some blacks say Obama, son of a white mother and black father, “isn’t black enough.” Robinson, though, thinks Obama’s multiracial background helps him in having a broad appeal.

“He’s unique,” Robinson said. “He understands both sides.”

He also understands the politics of it, leaders said.

“Any candidate has to speak to all the people; they can’t afford to speak exclusively to one group,” said Dennis Courtland Hayes, the NAACP’s interim president and CEO. “I would encourage us all to understand that we are not all going to get what we want. But working together, we can come up with resolutions to problems to get us to where we want to be.”

The Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is officially nonpartisan. Likely Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain planned to speak here Wednesday.

The Arizona Republican plans to talk about education, including expanded merit-pay programs for teachers who improve their students’ academic performance.

Walters said McCain’s visit to the convention is a way to say he wants to represent all groups.

“It strikes a good tone,” Walters said. “If [McCain] is elected president, he can say ‘I was there; I have an open door.”’

Obama, who drew strong black voter support during Democratic primaries, will find plenty of fans here.

“I think he’s speaking to the whole United States. He’s going to give everyone a chance to step up,” said Bernie Hewett, of Brunswick County, N.C. “He’s especially reaching the young voters, black and white, getting them involved.”

Alicia Reece, a former Cincinnati city councilwoman, said she hears a lot of enthusiasm about Obama among young blacks, who see his political emergence reflecting positively on a group familiar with negative portrayals.

“A lot of my friends feel there are a lot of Barack Obamas in our community that have never had the opportunity to be showcased like this,” she said. “They’re very excited about that.”